Exploring Urban Sustainability in Europe’s Greenest City

Sustainable Stockholm provides a historical overview of Stockholm’s environmental development, and also discusses a number of cross-disciplinary themes presenting the urban sustainability work behind Stockholm’s unique position, and importantly the question of how well Stockholm’s practices can be exported and transposed to other places and contexts.

By using the case of Stockholm as the pivot of discussions, Sustainable Stockholm investigates the core issues of sustainable urban environmental development and planning, in all their entanglements. The book shows how intersecting fields such as urban planning and architecture, traffic planning, land-use regulation, building, waste management, regional development, water management, infrastructure engineering—together and in combination—have contributed to making Stockholm Europe’s "greenest" city.

Contents:

Introduction: The Greenest City?

Jonathan Metzger and Amy Rader Olsson

From ugly duckling to Europe's first green capital: a historical perspective on the development of Stockholm's urban environment

Björn Hårsman and Bo Wijkmark

Using the concept of sustainability to work: interpretations in academia, policy, and planning

NASA scientists have used satellite observations to measure air pollution's dependence on population in four of the planet's major air pollution regions: the United States, Europe, China and India.

Indian cities less NO2 polluted than other major global counterparts

ANI | Aug 20, 2013, 09.51 PM IST
WASHINGTON: NASA scientists have used satellite observations to measure air pollution's dependence on population in four of the planet's major air pollution regions: the United States, Europe, China and India.

They found that the pollution-population relationship varies by region. For example, a city of 1 million people in Europe experiences six times higher nitrogen dioxide pollution than an equally populated city of 1 million people in India, according to the research led by Lok Lamsal, of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Centerin Greenbelt, Maryland.

Lamsal said that energy usage patterns and per capita emissions differ greatly between India and Europe and destpite large populations, Indian cities seem cleaner in terms of NO2 pollution than the study's other regions.

The variation is a reflection of regional differences such as industrial development, per capita emissions and geography.

Previously, researchers have measured the relationship between population and several urban characteristics, like infrastructure, employment and innovation.

Lamsal said that they showed that the relationship is also applicable to pollution and measurement of that relationship is potentially useful for developing future inventories and formulating air pollution control policies.

The researchers focused on nitrogen dioxide, or NO2, a common pollutant from the burning of fossil fuels. The gas is a precursor to the formation of near-ground ozone, which can cause respiratory problems and is a problem in many major metropolitan areas.

NO2 is also unhealthy to breathe in high concentrations. One feature of the gas, however, is that it's a good proxy for urban air quality.

Lamsal and colleagues studied data collected by the Ozone Monitoring Instrument on NASA's Aura satellite, which measures NO2 throughout the atmosphere in the afternoon around the world.

Next they used an air quality computer model to derive from the satellite data the annual mean concentration of the gas near the ground in some of the Northern Hemisphere's major polluting regions, excluding hotspots such as power plants that could skew the urban relationship. By overlaying pollution concentration with population density data, the researchers could examine the relationship.

The contribution to air pollution from surface-level NO2 in each region more than doubled when cities increased in population from 1 million to 10 million people, although in China the increase was much larger, by about a factor of five.

Even though larger cities are typically more energy efficient with lower per-capita emissions, more people still translates to more pollution. But the study reveals some noteworthy regional differences.

To enhance sustainable development research and practice the values of the researchers, project managers and participants must first be made explicit. Values in Sustainable Development introduces and compares worldviews and values from multiple countries and perspectives, providing a survey of empirical methods available to study environmental values as affected by sustainable development. The first part is methodological, looking at what values are, why they are important, and how to include values in sustainable development. The second part looks at how values differ across social contexts, religions and viewpoints demonstrating how various individuals may value nature from a variety of cultural, social, and religious points of view. The third and final part presents case studies ordered by scale from the individual and community levels through to the national, regional and international levels. These examples show how values can motivate, be incorporated into and be an integral part of the success of a project.

This thought-provoking book gives researchers, students and practitioners in sustainable development a wealth of approaches to include values in their research.

Global Energy Essay Contest 2013

Global Energy Essay Contest 2013

Introduction

"A Vision for The Decade (2014-2024) of Sustainable Energy for All"

Date:

28 Oct 2013

The Global Energy Essay Contest provides an exciting opportunity for college and university students around the world to engage in critical thinking and present their ideas and solutions to tackle the key energy issues that humanity faces today.

Eligibility

The essay contest is open to all students from across the world that are currently enrolled in university working towards a degree program (e.g. B.A., B.S., M.A., M.S, M.B.A, M.Ed., Ph.D., etc) to take part in the contest.

Essay Topic

The United Nations General Assembly unanimously declared 201402024 as the Decade of Sustainable Energy for All, underscoring the importance of energy issues for sustainable development and for the elaboration of the post-2015 development agenda.

Taking inspiration from this, we would like students to share their thoughts on the declaration through this year?s essay topic:

"A Vision for The Decade (2014-2024) of Sustainable Energy for All"

Prizes

The First and Second place winners will receive an invitation to the Global Energy Conference at the United Nations from December 11-12, 2013. The First place winner will also have a speaking opportunity during the award presentation ceremony. Airfare and accommodation to New York will be covered. The top ten finalists will receive certificates from Global Energy Initiative.

The deadline for submission is October 28, 2013. Prize winners will be announced on November 8, 2013.

A file photo of strong wind and rain in the outskirts of Kolkata city on May 25, 2009. (TOI Photo)

Mumbai, Kolkata to suffer huge damage from sea flooding by 2050: StudySubodh Varma, TNN | Aug 19, 2013, 03.19 PM IST
NEW DELHI: Mumbai and Kolkata are at risk of suffering several billions of dollars of damages by 2050 due to flooding even if they upgrade their protection, a study has warned. Mumbai would lose $6.4 billion and Kolkata $3.4 billion annually, the study published in Nature Climate Change estimated.

In the worst case scenario, the world's 136 largest coastal cities could risk combined annual losses of $1 trillion (750 billion euros) from floods by 2050 unless they drastically raise their defenses, the study said.

Flood exposure is increasing in coastal cities owing to growing populations and assets, the changing climate, and subsidence, the study found.

World Bank economist Stephane Hallegatte and colleagues composed a loss risk scenario based on city population growth as well as different levels of sea level rise, protection upgrades and subsidence—the sinking of surface areas often linked to the extraction of oil or other ground resources.

Average global flood losses in 2005 are estimated to be approximately US$6?billion per year. Assuming cities improve their protection to contain the flood risk to current levels, and based purely on the projected growth of city populations and the assets accumulated there, the team warned of a nine-fold increase in losses to $52 billion per year by 2050, AFP reported.

However, this figure changes dramatically once climate change induced sea level rise and subsidence is factored in. It increases to between $60 and $63 billion per year.

"With no adaptation (of flood protection), the projected increase in average losses by 2050 is huge, with aggregate losses increasing to more than $1 trillion per year," said the study—a worst-case-scenario.

But even the best protection in the world won't eliminate the risk, said the study. While higher dykes can reduce flooding, the magnitude of losses when they do occur will continue to rise.

"We have more and more people depending on these protections. That means that if we have a dyke rupture, as there are more people behind the dykes, we will have ever bigger catastrophes," Hallegatte told AFP.

With protection upgrades, the cities with the highest projected annual losses by 2050 were Guangzhou ($13.2 billion), Mumbai ($6.4 billion) and Kolkota ($3.4 billion) in India, Guayaquil ($3.2 billion) in Ecuador and Shenzhen ($3.1 billion) in China. For Guangzhou, this represented an 11 percent rise on 2005 losses and for Kolkota 24 percent, said the authors.

Number six on the list was Miami, with projected annual losses of $2.5 billion, followed by Tianjin in China with $2.3 billion, New York with $2 billion, Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam with $1.9 billion and New Orleans with $1.9 billion, AFP reported.

Rich cities, many of them in areas more at risk from flooding, can generally afford better defences than poor cities which are over-represented among those that risk the biggest losses, said the study.

Amsterdam, for example, has about $83 billion of assets exposed to extreme flooding—yet its average annual loss was $3 million due to having the world's best flood defences.

New Orleans, on the other hand, has annual losses estimated at $600 million, though improvements have been made since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

NEW DELHI: Exotic shark fins soup industry will have to observe certain dos and don'ts in India under a new government policy. Union environment ministry has prohibited "the removal of shark fins on board a vessel in the sea" so that the law enforcers can monitor illegal hunting of banned species of sharks.

The policy prescribes that any possession of shark fins that are not naturally attached to the body of the shark would amount to "hunting" of a Schedule-I (protected category) species which attracts punishment under the Wild Life(Protection) Act.

"The policy calls for concerted action and implementation by the concerned state governments through appropriate legislative, enforcement and other measures", said the ministry in a statement issued on Friday.

It said, "With a view to stop the inhuman hunting of sharks and to enable the enforcement agencies to monitor the illegal hunting/poaching of the species listed in Schedule-I, the environment and forest minister Jayanthi Natarajan has approved a policy for prohibiting the removal of shark fins on board a vessel in the sea".

Sharks, Rays and Skates play an important the role in maintenance of the marine ecosystem like tigers and leopards in the forests. India is known to be home to about 40-60 species of sharks.

However, the population of some of these has declined over the years due to several reasons including over exploitation and unsustainable fishing practices. Therefore, 10 species of sharks have been listed in the Schedule- I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, in order to provide them the highest degree of protection.

"Due to high demand of shark fines in the shark fin-soup industry, it has been reported that the fins of the sharks captured in the mid sea are removed on the vessel and the de-finned sharks are thrown back in the sea to die a painful death.

"This has not only resulted in in-human killing of large number of sharks and in this process, but also has further decimated the population of listed species. This practice prevailing on board the shipping vessels has led to difficulties in enforcement of provisions of the law as it becomes difficult to identify the species of sharks from the fins alone, without the corresponding carcass, from which the fins have been detached", said the ministry.

September 16th every year is International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer. In this day, the world reiterated the importance of ozone layer, the influence of people on the degradation of the ozone layer due to the emission of hazardous substances that cause ‘damage’ to fragile ozone layer in the upper atmosphere. Looking back the past, Vietnam has achieved remarkable success in the gradual restriction of the use of ozone depleting substances.

Protecting the ozone layer is the responsibility of mankind. Therefore, the leaders of the countries all over the world had a meeting in Montreal (Canada), 195/196 countries have agreed to participate in the Montreal Protocol 1997 to eliminate the use of chemicals to deplete the ozone layer. The current goal of Vietnam and countries participating in the Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the Ozone Layer is to gradually eliminate the entire of ozone depleting substances such as CFC, HCFC, HFC (chemicals used in Cooling mechanism of conditioning equipment, air conditioning, etc.). These substances have the potential to cause global warming thousand times higher than CO2.

Although in January 1994, Vietnam participated in Montreal Protocol, until January 2010, there is no longer any business in Vietnam using CFC (the catalyst has high affection in breaking ozone molecules) in cosmetics production. Cooling and air conditioning industry also achieve positive results with an average reduction of 3.6 tons of CFC 11 per year in the textile industry, 5.8 tons of CFC-12 in air conditioning used in cars and 40 tons of CFCs in commercial refrigeration equipment and appliances, etc. Vietnam has completely eliminated the annual consumption of ozone depleting substances, with about 500 tons of CFCs and 3.8 tons of halons. With these achievements, Vietnam’s efforts and contribution in the implementation of Montreal Protocol have been recognized by ‘Environment Program’ of United Nations.

According to the Montreal Protocol, in 2013, Vietnam has only consumed HCFC HCFC at the basic line level (221.2 tons). From October 2015 to the end of 2019, it has to decrease by 10% compared to the basic line level , 35% from 2020 and completely eliminate in 2030. The industry of equipment repair and maintenance is allowed to use HCFC until 2040. To ensure the compliance with the limits to eliminate HCFCs according to the Montreal Protocol, with the support of the World Bank, Department of Meteorology, Hydrology and Climate Change (Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment) has completed the construction of the project ‘National Management Plan for eliminating HCFC substances of Vietnam’. The project’s phase 1 was approved by the Executive Committee of Multilateral Fund with the grant of $ 10 million USD, being implemented since 2012-2016. Phase 2 of the project will be constructed and called for financing by the Department of Hydrometeorology and Climate Change in collaboration with the World Bank and in 2015. It is estimated that Vietnam needs 20-25 million more to completely eliminate HCFC.

The responsibility of Vietnam in the next years is t9bcompletely eliminate HCFC consumption. This process can be extended to 2030. To achieve this objective, from now on, Vietnamese Government is calling for people to join hands to protect the ozone layer by changing consuming behavior. Do not use conditioners containing HCFC-22 coolant with low price. Instead, use HCFC-410a. When purchasing household products, especially the kind using in a spray bottle, consumers should find the kinds with the label of "no CFC ". When painting house, paint by brush or roller, do not use a spray. Reduce the use of plastic foam packaging. If available, take advantage of it for many times. Businesses should not install new equipment using HCFC, they should use advanced technology from the beginning to avoid technology transfer, which requires international roadmap that has been approved.

However, according to Mr. Nguyen Khac Hieu, Deputy Director of Department of Meteorology, Hydrology and Climate Change: If receiving the full support of finance and technology from international organizations, Vietnam will have completed eliminating HCFC in 2025.

2014 International Conference and Utility Exhibition on“Green Energy for Sustainable Development” is organized by the Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand will be held on 19-21 March 2014 at Jomtien Palm Beach Hotel and Resort, Jomtien, Pattaya City, Thailand.

In discussions of economic development, industrialization, modernization and urbanization are often in the equation. But as this generation being a product of past environmental transgressions, we are now all inclined to include environmental sustainability in the picture. We now not only refer economic development to quantitative and qualitative progress in the economy, community and society, but we now also consider the kind of natural environment we would be leaving for future generations. Industrialization, modernization and urbanization translate to an insatiable thirst for energy. But as demand for energy grows, so do the greenhouse gas emissions. If the aspiration of development is to raise living standards, provide proper access to modern energy services, more efficient use of energy to protect the global environment and ensure reliable energy supplies, then green growth must play a key role. Incorporating elements of low-carbon green growth in economic strategies that would cover technological, financial and investment aspects, as well as national and regional energy development policies geared towards achieving a sustainable green future has now become more important. A low-carbon based type of economy will help mitigate environmental pollution and CO2 emissions caused by fossil fuel use, help reduce reliance to dwindling fossil reserves, and encourage technological innovations.

This ICUE 2014 conference will be a venue to exchange research ideas, experiences, technical, social, financial, economic and policy issues covering greening energy utilization. Here, energy professionals, policy makers, researchers, members of the academe, engineers, members of the energy supply sector, etc., will have a platform to showcase research findings, technological innovations, transformative emerging technologies, and even to discuss burning global, regional and national issues in energy utilization for development and environment policies and programmes. In particular, the following topics will be featured:

ü Greening the Fossil Fuels

ü Renewable Energy

ü Electric Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution

ü Smart Grid and Renewable Energy Integration

ü Greening the Industrial Sector

ü Green Energy in Transport

ü Green Buildings and Infrastructures

ü Energy and Water Nexus

ü Energy and Health

ü Greening Urbanization and Urban Settlements

ü Green Policies and Programmes

ü MDGs and Green Energy Rural Development through Green Energy

ü Green Energy Education and Training

Important dates to remember are:

15 September 2013 : Due date of Abstract Submission15 October 2013: Notification of Abstract Acceptance20 December 2013: Due date of Full Paper Submission15 January 2014: Due date of Early Registration

A Race against Time

History reveals how civilisations can be decimated by changes in climate. More recently modern methods of warfare have exposed the vulnerability of the artefacts of civilisation. Bringing together a range of subjects - from science, energy and sustainability to aesthetics theory and civilization theory - this book uniquely deals with climate change and the ensuing catastrophes in relation to cultural factors, urbanism and architecture. It links the evolution of civilisation, with special emphasis on the dynamics of beauty as displayed in architecture and urbanism, to climate change. It then considers both the historic and predicted impacts of climate change and the threat it poses to the continued viability of human civilisation when survival is the top priority.

This book gives students, researchers and professionals in architecture and sustainable design as well as anyone interested in the threat of global warming to civilisation, new insights as to what could be lost if action is not taken at a global level.

Synergies and divergences

gence and divergence between land change science and political ecology as approaches to the study of human-environment relationships and sustainability science are examined and analyzed in this innovative volume. Comprised of 11 commissioned chapters as well as introductory and concluding/synthesis chapters, it advances the two fields by proposing new conceptual and methodological approaches toward integrating land change science and political ecology.

The book also identifies areas of fundamental difference and disagreement between fields. These theoretical contributions will help a generation of young researchers refine their research approaches and will advance a debate among established scholars in geography, land-use studies, and sustainability science that has been developing since the early 2000s. At an empirical level, case studies focusing on sustainable development are included from Africa, Central and South America, and Southeast Asia. The specific topics addressed include tropical deforestation, swidden agriculture, mangrove forests, gender, and household issues.

Contents:

Foreword

Andrew Millington

1. Notes for Avoiding a Missed Opportunity in Sustainability Science: Integrating Land Change Science and Political Ecology

Christian Brannstrom and Jacqueline M. Vadjunec

2. The Ghost of von Thünen Lives: A Political Ecology of the Disappearance of the Amazonian Forest

Robert Walker and Peter Richards

3. Forest Transitions in Southeast Asia: Synergies and Shortcomings in Land Change Science and Political Ecology

Guillaume Lestrelin, Jean-Christophe Castella and Jefferson Fox

4. Politicizing Land Use Change in Highland Madagascar: Struggles with Air Photo Analyses and Conservation Agendas

An Integrated Approach

understanding of sometimes difficult material, this book provides practical and working knowledge of how environmental policy analysis is conducted in the United States and, to a lesser extent, elsewhere. It details the tools required to conduct that analysis and also discusses weaknesses in the existing methods, underlining areas for future improvement. This approach allows readers to get a sense of what is known and what is not known about environmental economics.

Contents:

Basic Theory: Introduction. The Economy and the Environment: Uncontrolled Case. The Economy and the Environment: The Case of Optimal Controls. Alternative Regulatory Approaches.

Physical Effects: Optimal Controls in Real-World Settings: General Considerations. The Physical Effects of the Various Residuals: Air. The Physical Effects of the Various Residuals: Water. The Physical Effects of the Various Residuals: Solid Waste and Hazardous Materials.